Landlord-tenant laws

Dear editor:

Unfortunately, for one-third of the homes in Arkansas, Arkansas is the only state to lack an implied warranty of habitability in their landlord-tenant laws. An implied warranty of habitability guarantees the tenant that the housing unit is "habitable" and will remain so. Unless the lease agreement specifies what the landlord is to maintain and repair, the landlord is under no legal obligation to keep their property in livable conditions because the law does not require them to do so.

The landlord-tenant laws in Arkansas are unfair as they offer no protection to renters. In addition to the lack of the warranty of habitability, Arkansas is the only state to have a "failure to vacant" law. This law is a criminal eviction which fines and gives other criminal penalties to a tenant does not pay the rent on time. Even more so, the law only gives the tenant 10 days to move out. A late payment is a breach in a civil contract; however, Arkansas is the only state to criminalize a civil contract breach. A civil contract breach requires compensation, not jail time.

While the law is there to protect landlords from freeloaders and property damage, the law protects the landlords at the cost of the tenants' living conditions and protection. The Arkansas landlord-tenant laws need to be amended to included an implied warranty of habitability and remove the "failure to vacant" statute for more balanced and fair laws.

Katherine Evans

Bryant

Editorial on 02/02/2017

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